Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of 12 January, 2019
I am told that brand names appear frequently in American crosswords. In British puzzles, it is unusual to see a brand name but it does seem to be coming more and more common. There are two in this puzzle, REALTOR (2dn) and LYSOL (23dn). If you are not familiar with the term ‘Realtor’, it is essentially a brand of estate agent, in particular an estate agent who is a member of the (American) National Association of Realtors. Not all US estate agents are Realtors, far from it indeed. Oh, and it is not unusual to hear the word mispronounced as if it were ‘relator’. Lysol is a brand of products for cleaning and disinfecting toilets and bathrooms, and one very well known in the U.S. Is it common in Britain these days? I think of Harpic!
My favourite clue this week is 12ac (FATES).
| Across | ||
| 1 | CRYSTAL BALLS | Spooner’s city sends for fortune tellers (7,5) |
| Spoonerization of “Bristol calls” (city sends for) | ||
| 10 | OVATION | Pub shunning novelty? Cheers! (7) |
| [inn]OVATION (pub-shunning novelty) | ||
| 11 | FESTIVE | Joyful female, not initially impatient (7) |
| F (female) + [r]ESTIVE (not initially impatient) | ||
| 12 | FATES | Lots of tubby Estonians on vacation (5) |
| FAT (tubby) + E[stonian]S | ||
| 13 | TOP-SHELF | X-rated Barking fleshpot (3-5) |
| Anagram (barking) of FLESHPOT | ||
| 15 | AIR-KISSING | Show Peace Nobelist ignoring royal greeting (3-7) |
| AIR (show) + KISSING[er] (Peace Nobelist ignoring royal) | ||
| 16 | OSLO | Posh slob stripped in northern city (4) |
| [p]OS[h] [s]LO[b] | ||
| 18 | RAPT | Gripped wound, reportedly (4) |
| Homophone (reportedly) of “wrapped” (wound) | ||
| 20 | CENSORIOUS | Administering cure soon is critical (10) |
| Anagram (administering) of CURE SOON IS | ||
| 22 | TROLLOPE | Novelist Tom Wolfe’s last letter (8) |
| TROLLOP (tom) + [wolf]E. It took some digging to satisfy myself that ‘trollop’ and ‘tom’ are synonyms. | ||
| 24 | NOTES | Pays attention to revolutionary attack (5) |
| SET ON (attack) backwards (revolutionary) | ||
| 26 | OVERSET | Love poetry beginning to trigger disquiet (7) |
| O (love) + VERSE (poetry) + T[rigger]. The definition here involves a meaning that is very obscure for me. | ||
| 27 | EATABLE | Unlimited real food, fit for consumption (7) |
| [r]EA[l] + TABLE (food) | ||
| 28 | BELLY DANCERS | Excitedly recalls bendy female performers (5,7) |
| Anagram (excitedly) of RECALLS BENDY | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | REALTOR | Utter tosh about US estate agent (7) |
| REAL (utter) + ROT (tosh) backwards (about) | ||
| 3 | SWIMSUIT | Jam makers entering S&M clubs, perhaps in costume (8) |
| WI (jam makers, i.e. Women’s Institute) in SM (S&M) + SUIT (clubs perhaps) | ||
| 4 | ACNE | Spots top pilot circling capital of Nepal (4) |
| N[epal] in (circling) ACE (top pilot) | ||
| 5 | BUFFOONISH | Zany Polish butcher in Soho (10) |
| BUFF (polish) + anagram (butcher) of IN SOHO | ||
| 6 | LISTS | Catalogues Blair’s stash regularly (5) |
| [b]L[a]I[r]S [s]T[a]S[h] | ||
| 7 | SWIVELS | Singular old ladies describing student couplings (7) |
| S (singular) + L (student) in WIVES (old ladies) | ||
| 8 | CONFLAGRATION | Burning Tory Union Jack quota? (13) |
| CON (Tory) + FLAG (Union Jack) + RATION (quota) | ||
| 9 | SELF-POSSESSED | Small gangs of little people on speed, oddly unruffled (4-9) |
| S (small) + ELF POSSES (gangs of little people!) + S[p]E[e]D | ||
| 14 | OSTEOPATHY | Use those to pay for treatment (10) |
| Anagram (use) of THOSE TO PAY | ||
| 17 | GRANITIC | Resolute nana belted bumpkin, Cockneys say (8) |
| GRAN (nana) + ‘IT ‘ICK (belted bumpkin, Cockneys say) | ||
| 19 | PROVERB | Saw tramp in empty pub (7) |
| ROVER (tramp) in P[u]B | ||
| 21 | OCTOBER | Havoc to be repeated over month (7) |
| Hidden word | ||
| 23 | LYSOL | Starts to loot your store of lavatory disinfectant (5) |
| L[oot] Y[our] S[tore] O[f] L[avatory]. I was rather shocked by this clue. It was an easy one for me because the wordplay is rather obvious and I am very familiar with Lysol as a brand of bathroom-cleaning products. But, while we see brand names appearing more and more in crosswords, this one seems a bit too obscure. I might have guessed that it exists only in the U.S. but I suppose that its use here must mean it is known in the U.K. as well. | ||
| 25 | FETA | Extremely flavoursome tapioca and cheese (4) |
| F[lavoursom]E T[apioc]A | ||
I’ve heard of LYSOL but can’t recall ever seeing it in the UK. Which might explain why the clue was relatively easy.
My faves in a super puzzle, BELLY DANCERS, TOP-SHELF and TROLLOPE.
LYSOL wasn’t a problem at all for me. I know it from my many years in The Netherlands but I also thought that it was a chemical in itself – apparently not [although Chambers has it with a lower case L at the start]. Anyway, I was certainly not ‘shocked’ by it nor by REALTOR, a word I only know from crosswords.
Another good crossword from Spider Towers but I failed on 17d.
Not keen on the hidden indicator in 21d’s OCTOBER [read: I don’t like it at all].
Many thanks to Pete & Rosa Klebb.
Until I read your comment, Sil, it had never occurred to me to look up ‘lysol’ in a dictionary. Somehow my mind could conceive of it only as a trademark. Well, my bad! In a case like this, I should always look it up to be sure. And, to be sure, my Chambers has it as a generic noun meaning “a solution of cresol in soap that is a poisonous disinfectant”. It also notes that the word is a trademark in some countries.
And I agree with you about 17dn.
I encountered LYSOL many years ago in one of Hemingway’s books.
Great stuff from Arachne’s alter ego and thanks Pete.
Thanks to Pete and Rosa Klebb
I’m not sure where I know Realtor from but I suppose it’s American TV or film. It has never occurred to me that it is anything other than their term for “estate agent”. What do they call estate agents who aren’t Realtors I wonder?
Anyway, I enjoyed this very much except for 5 and 17d – Ross Noble is ZANY, Mr Bean is BUFFOONISH, and I do wish setters would drop this cockney/east London thing – its tedious, dated, and most importantly so chestnutty as to have no misdirection value at all.
BTW, I think at 26a I think the definition is simply DISQUIET and BEGINNING TO TRIGGER gives T.
Dansar, Thank you for commenting.
Despite having lived in the U.S. for most of my adult life, I am not perfectly sure what estate agents in general are called here. I refer to them as estate agents and have never been corrected but I have an idea that “real estate agents” is more common.
When I first looked up meanings of ‘overset’ I found one that suggested it meant specifically to trigger upset rather than simply to upset. So I decided the definition must be “trigger disquiet”. Looking now at more dictionaries, I have decided I made the wrong choice — never mind that the wordplay is much better if the definition is simply “disquiet”. So, thank you very much for prompting me to make this reevaluation.
Thanks to Rosa Klebb and Pete. As usual a delight to solve. Both LYSOL and REALTOR are familiar to me in the US – and I have never thought of the latter as a trade name needing a capital letter. OVERSET was new to me (and to my spell checker) though gettable from the clues, but I was defeated by SWIVELS.
Some genuinely funny clues here, thought. I still had to ponder 12a even having been told the answer, in terms of understanding ‘lot’ as ‘fate’ (simply didn’t see it since ‘lot’ in this sense is not often considered in the plural) and ‘on vacation’ as a signal to empty the word.
Thanks Pete & Rosa. I always enjoy Rosa’s wit & sparkle.
Thanks Rosa Klebb and Pete
Not sure why, but found this one of the easiest crosswords that I’ve done from this setter. It did give more time to read over and appreciate the charming wit of the clue surfaces – favourite of these was 12a.
Did notice a pattern of asking us to select individual letters in words to derive the whole answer (in 16a, 6d, 23d and 25d) or for parts of an answer (12a, 22a, 9d and 19d).
Only new terms for me were TOP SHELF (to refer to porn) and OVERSET. Did remember the US term REALTOR.
Finished in the NE corner with RESTIVE and SWIVELS as the last couple in.
I too was defeated by 7d in what was otherwise for me quite an easy puzzle (!). Still don’t get why “wives” should be OLD ladies nor have I met “swivels” as “couplings” before.